


Lesbians and Car Crashes

by fandomnerd



Category: Chicago Fire
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-16
Updated: 2012-12-16
Packaged: 2017-11-21 07:38:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/595186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomnerd/pseuds/fandomnerd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>But things can happen, little things that just build and pile on top of each other like dominoes, and Gabriela is powerless to do anything other than watch them fall, unable to see the end result until it's too late.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lesbians and Car Crashes

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this was inspired by the spoiler we were given about episode 11. It'll probably be rendered AU after this week's episode, so I figured I'd better post it now.
> 
> I also feel a little shaky about how I wrote these characters--I had a little bit of trouble getting into their heads. I really hope I managed to do them justice.

Gabriela never drives the Ambo. It's a running gag between them, between her and Leslie. Leslie likes to drive, Leslie likes to take charge and be in control, Leslie is a top. That's just how it goes. And that applies to driving the Ambo, too. Gabriela doesn't mind, not really, although she gives Leslie shit about it sometimes because it's hilarious and hello, she's not a _saint_ or anything. And seeing Leslie blush is always worth it.

But things can happen, little things that just build and pile on top of each other like dominoes, and Gabriela is powerless to do anything other than watch them fall, unable to see the end result until it's too late.

Today, Leslie had been asleep in the station--she hasn't been able to get much sleep lately, not since that bitch Clarice told her that the baby should have been hers (and boy, when Gabriela found out it took both Casey AND Severide to restrain her from tracking that bitch down and giving her what she deserved for breaking Leslie's heart _again_ ) when the alarm rings. It only takes her a moment to wake up, and get dressed--as a trained first responder, she has to be able to wake up and get dressed fast. But when she gets in the Ambo, she's still adjusting her clothes, so Gabriela gets behind the wheel instead.

The car, the speeding green Hummer, comes out of nowhere, when they're about halfway to their destination, and slams straight into the passenger side. The side where Gabriela usually would have been. The side where Leslie is, instead. Oh, god.

Gabriela is uninjured, but Leslie, Leslie is bleeding and unresponsive and the stupid ambulance won't start. "Ambulance 51 to CFD, we've been struck by another vehicle, and my partner is injured. We're going to need another Ambo, stat," she says into her walkie talkie, and feels a stab of relief when she gets a positive response. She delicately undoes Leslie's seatbelt, lifts her out of the ambulance and puts her onto a stretcher as carefully as she can. She checks her pulse, does every test she can think of while she waits for backup, and tries not to think about how this is all her fault. 

She blots the blood off of Leslie's face and neck, pulls out shards of glass, tries to make help come faster with the power of her mind. A thousand eternities pass before help comes, but Gabriela is too relieved to complain. When one of the EMTs, a fresh-faced boy who can't be more than a year or two out of college, tries to stop her from getting in the car with Leslie, she glares at him so fiercely that he all but runs away. She's not worried about ambulance 51, or whatever accident they were driving toward; they'll send replacements, they'll do _something_. Gabriela honestly doesn't care. Her best friend, the person she's spent more time with in the past few years than she has with anyone else, is in the back of an ambulance, and it's all her fault, and there's nothing she can do. It is, essentially, her worst nightmare.

She grips Leslie's hand like a lifeline, rubs her thumb across her knuckles, smooths back her hair. And then they're at the hospital, and they're taking her away, and Gabriela is left standing by herself. She knows the boys from the station will be by at some point, but right now she is alone with her thoughts and worries. She makes it to the waiting room, and then drops into a chair as her knees give out.

Gabriela's been sitting there for ten minutes when she is, absurdly, filled with the urge to laugh. She remembers Leslie coming to work one day, in an awful mood. Gabriela had innocently asked her what was wrong, and she'd gotten a response that had made no sense to her at the time.

_"What is it about lesbians and goddamned car crashes!" Leslie ranted at a confused Gabriela. "It's the lesbian curse! First Callie and Arizona, and now Cat. I mean seriously, why is it always the lesbians?"_

_Gabriela shrugged. "I don't know who any of those people are. Are they okay? Were they friends of yours?"_

_Leslie looked up at Gabriela through her eyelashes, her expression lightening at Gabriela's earnest confusion. She chuckled. "No, Dawson. Callie and Arizona, from Grey's Anatomy? I wouldn't expect you to know Cat--she's from this show called Lip Service you wouldn't have heard of; it's kind of like the UK's response to The L Word. But really? No Grey's Anatomy? What do you even_ do _when you're not at work?"_

_Gabriela shoved Leslie's shoulder playfully and rolled her eyes._

She bows her head and squeezes her eyes shut against the pain caused by the thought that she might never see that lighthearted look on Leslie's face again, even if it was at her own expense.

She doesn't care about Casey, or Peter Mills, or anything except seeing Leslie Shay alive and well and happy.

She chuckles bitterly. Lesbian curse, indeed.


End file.
